A Monday Night Show and The Merging of Worlds
I’m not usually shy about inching through the crowd at a concert to get up close, but I always remember my manners when I weave my delicate path to the stage.
When Lindsey Stirling performed at the High Dive on Monday night, I thought it would be no different. But when I showed up pretty unfashionably late (Luke needed his red wine), the place was packed and the crowd took me by surprise.
My immediate perimeter: a 12 year old girl (possibly unsupervised?), a lanky guy with some pretty fragrant dreads (musty bacon smell maybe?), a conservative looking couple in their 40’s (could’ve been UF professors), a few preppy college students, a mean-muggin’ biker covered head to toe in leather and studs and an old woman with a knit sweater and white bun (Gotta respect my elders—can’t push ahead of her).
I couldn’t help but ask myself…how could such a diverse group of people all be lured to the same quaint venue in downtown Gainesville?
The answer:
Quirky dubstep violinist Lindsey Stirling, whose music merges the worlds of past and present, the classical and the modern.
Stirling’s music takes the timeless beauty of classical violin and merges it seamlessly with the hypnotizing beats and suspenseful drops of current electronic music. The older folks in the crowd swayed to the sweet piercing sound of her violin, while the young ones jumped around to the groovy, digitally mastered electronic rhythms.
Stirling eagerly bounded on stage with a conservative black t-shirt and modest make-up (My grandma would approve) paired with a sparkly tutu-like skirt (like one you might don as a rave girl at Ultra) and half-dreaded hairstyle that seems more fitting in a beach-side surf shop than in a symphony orchestra.
Her entire body moved as she dragged her bow across the strings. There is something so visceral and real about seeing someone so passionate and in-tune (no pun intended) with her own performance.
In a time when the world seems fixated on Beyonce shaking her perfect butt during the Super Bowl half time show, it is refreshing to see a musician without the smoke machines or skimpy outfit who is not afraid to mess up her hair and sweat her make-up off the stage.
You can tell when Stirling speaks to the crowd that she is not yet jaded by her newfound fame. The wonder in her voice and the energy of her presence makes you like her if solely because you feel as if she loves what she does so intensely.
Her passion is captivating.
I’m jealous.
It’s an admirable kind of passion we all wish to find in our lives as college students. We ask ourselves, what do we long to do? What are we meant to accomplish? And perhaps the question we grapple with the most: are our passions and dreams “good enough” or “realistic enough” or “marketable enough” to help carry us to success?
In between songs, Stirling was practically bursting with joy as she told the crowd that she is living her dream. Before she played “Transcendence,” she spilled that nobody ever thought she was good enough to succeed and that she was always told mixing the styles of music just wasn’t marketable. She encouraged us to go after our dreams and never give up on what makes us truly happy.
I didn’t expect such inspirational words.
Frankly, the only encouragement I am used to at shows is the musician urging the crowd to take a shot, pop a pill, smoke a joint, or make out with the stranger next to me. (My grandma would not approve.)
As the show wound down and she gracefully danced across the stage for her last song, “Crystallize,” fake snow started to flurry from the ceiling, mimicking one of her music videos shot in the polar icecaps.
Regardless of whether you were young or old, into the classical sounds or feeling the modern vibes, against the speakers in front or chilling in the back, you smiled as the snow fell and felt like maybe, just maybe, you really could accomplish anything.
Not a bad way to start the week.
